Page 20 - Banking Finance December 2021

CO-OPERATIVE BANK NEWS

the Supreme Court hearing, senior cases. Scores of officials of the bank ters of the bank and the residence of
counsel P C Chidambaram earlier ar- are facing charges for cheating cus- its chairman and a director on October
gued that at the beginning of the tomers of their hard earned money. 27, it said.
demonetisation exercise, cooperative RBI had appointed an administrator for While the official statement did not
banks were permitted to accept depos-
the bank. name the searched entity, sources iden-
its in scrapped currency notes however tified it as Buldana Urban Cooperative
the same was discontinued a week RBI imposes curbs on Credit bank.
later.
Maharashtra-based Babaji "The analysis of bank data on core
Apart from PDCC, Kolhapur, Nashik, banking solutions (CBS) and the state-
Ahmednagar, Sangli, Nagpur and two Date Mahila Sahakari ments of key persons recorded during
other district central cooperative Bank the search action have revealed glar-
banks, too, have old currency notes ing irregularities in opening the bank
lying with them. RBI imposed several restrictions on accounts.
Maharashtra-based Babaji Date
Kolhapur District Cooperative Banks' "More than 1,200 new bank accounts
Mahila Sahakari Bank, including cap-
chief executive officer A B Mane said,
ping withdrawals at Rs 5,000 for cus- were opened in the said branch with-
"We have Rs. 25.20 crore in old cur-
tomers, amid deterioration in the out PAN (permanent account num-
rency which has been rejected by the
lender's financial position. ber)," the Central Board of Direct
RBI. We have moved the Supreme Taxes, which frames policy for the tax
The restrictions under the Banking
Court and are awaiting the final deci- department, said in a statement.
Regulation Act 1949, will remain in
sion but the notes are after all, paper.
force for six months from the close of The investigations, it said, found that
They need to be preserved in the
business on November 8, 2021, and these bank accounts were opened
strong room. We have to consider the
are subject to review, Reserve Bank of "without following KYC (know your cus-
atmosphere and other issues and we
India (RBI) said in a statement. tomer) norms and all account opening
are not experts at preserving them.
We cannot challenge the decision ei- According to the central bank, Babaji forms are filled in by the bank staff and
ther. Our only petition is that the RBI Date Mahila Sahakari Bank, Yavatmal, they have put their signature/thumb
should accept the old currency notes should not, without prior approval of impressions".
that were deposited with us." RBI in writing, grant or renew any The department alleged that multiple
loans and advances, make any invest- cash deposits of "exact" denomination
ment, and incur any liability. The liabil- of Rs. 1.9 lakh each were made and
Seva Vikas Co-op Bank: ity part includes borrowing of funds they totalled Rs. 53.72 crore.
RBI appoints administra- and acceptance of fresh deposits.
"Out of these, more than 700 bank
tor Rs. 53-Crore Deposits Of accounts have been identified which

Police registered a case against officials were opened in a series where cash
Maharashtra-Based Coop-
of Seva Vikas Cooperative Bank in deposits of more than Rs. 34.10 crore
Chinchwad in Pune for allegedly de- erative Bank Seized were made immediately within seven
frauding a customer of Rs 25 lakh in The Income Tax Department has fro- days of the opening of bank accounts,
November. The bank failed to deposit zen deposits worth over Rs. 53 crore mainly during the period August 2020-
the money from several fixed deposits of an urban credit cooperative bank in May 2021," it said.
(FDs) and one saving account, reports Maharashtra after it found "glaring "These deposits have been structured
HT. irregularities" in the opening of ac- to avoid the mandatory PAN require-
counts in a recent raid, the CBDT said.
According to police sources the coop- ment for cash deposits over Rs. 2 lakh,"
erative is involved in multiple criminal The department raided the headquar- it added. T

20 | 2021 | DECEMBER | BANKING FINANCE